Crock-Pot Cheesy Ham and Noodles

Made this last week and the family loved it! It is a great way to use some of the Easter/Christmas/whenever ham, or you can make it by just buying a ham stead at the grocery store. It's a crock-pot recipe, but keep in mind it's only three hours - so not a "leave in the morning and come home at 5 and it's done" slow cooker recipe.

Crock pot Cheesy Ham and Noodles (picture courtesy of Betty Crocker)

Ingredients:
12 oz cooked ham - chopped
12 oz package of linguine
3 cups half and half
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheeses (divided in half)
1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 jar (10-12 oz) Alfredo sauce


1. Cook linguine in boiling water for five minutes; drain.
2. Transfer linguine to a lightly greased crock-pot.
3. Add half and half, peas, mustard, Alfredo sauce and 3/4 cup cheese; stir gently to blend
4. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
5. Cover and cook on low setting for 3 hours, or until linguine is tender.

Enjoy!!

Creamy Dill Chicken

This is one of my all-time favorite meals. My mom originally got a recipe off the back of a Knorr Vegetable Soup packet and we've been making it ever since. Over the 20+ years it's adapted rather significantly and I'm posting the way I've been cooking it recently. It doesn't take too much work and can be partially done in the crockpot - but isn't a "put it in in the morning and it's done by the time you're home!" kind of crockpot meal. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup water
• 1 package Knorr® Vegetable recipe mix
• 1/4 tsp. dried dill weed
• 1 cup sour cream
• 8 oz bag of egg noodles
• Optional: 1/2 cup frozen peas 

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet and brown chicken, turning once, until almost cooked, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in water, Knorr® Vegetable recipe mix and dill - make sure to coat the chicken. Bring to a boil. 
• Add mixture to crock pot or Dutch Oven. Crockpot: Set on low for ~1hr (or more if you're busy!)
  Dutch Oven: Let mixture simmer until chicken is fully cooked, about 10 minutes
• Meanwhile: Cook egg noodles to just less cooked than al dente (4-5 minutes). Drain.
• Stir sour cream into chicken and sauce. Add egg noodles and peas and mix until all noodles are fully coated with sauce. If in crockpot, you can set to low or warm until peas are done and you are ready to eat.
  

  

  My husband and young girls LOVE this meal

Wild Mushroom and Brie Soup

I recently had some leftover Brie (I realize that seems like something that isn't possible, but I bought the world's largest Brie wheel at Sam's) and needed to do something with it before it was wasted. One Sunday afternoon we went to a small cafe in McCaysville, Tennessee, which really wasn't very good except for the soup my husband had - Mushroom Brie. I had one bite and said to him, "I MUST MAKE THIS." I looked at a few different recipes, basically combined bits of each and came up with this pot of creamy deliciousness. WARNING: It's isn't a "quick" cook - this may have had something to do with my sous chef being a five-year old. Also, this is not healthy - it is made of cheese and cream. Deal with it. It is, however, vegetarian. Rare for me, but mushrooms are "nature's meat," right?

Ingredients:

1 lb wild mushrooms, sliced (I used one package of "gourmet blend" - which included shiitaki, crimini and oyster mushrooms - and one package of baby bella)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp Olive Oil (I always use Extra Virgin)
1/2 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onion (white)
1/4 cup chopped garlic
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp fresh thyme (additional for garnish)
1/2 cup sherry
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Brie cheese, crumbled into small pieces (rind removed) - the smaller the better to completely melt
Dash of cayenne
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:

1. Brown mushrooms
Add 1 tbsp butter and 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil (note: if you don't add the oil, the butter will burn) to large skillet, add half of the mushrooms and brown each side. Repeat for second half of mushrooms. Set mushrooms aside.

2. Make the roux
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large soup pot over medium-low heat. Add onions, celery and garlic and cook until soft (8 minutes or so). Add thyme, flour and dash of cayenne and stir until roux forms (about 3 minutes).

Softening the onions, celery and garlic

3. Soup base
Add sherry to roux, increase heat to medium high and bring mixture to a boil. Add the stock and the half and half and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.

My adorable sous chef

4. Puree soup to smooth
Two options here:
a. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth
or
b. Let cool and blend in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth before returning to pot

5. Add the mushrooms and lets soup come to a boil. Then reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes

After this, I immediately went on Amazon and ordered an immersion blender. Note to self: don't add too much soup to your processor!

6. Add the CHEESE
Add brie to pot and whisk to help the melting process. Add cream and simmer for at least 10 minutes.

Voila!

Wild Mushroom and Brie Soup

Chicken Cacciatore with Mushrooms and Capers

What could make chicken cacciatore even better? Mushrooms and capers.

Chicken cacciatore with mushrooms and capers

 

 Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs chicken breast (or thighs, or mixture), cut thinly or pounded
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 4 oz (about 3/4 regular store package) baby Portobello mushrooms, sliced - I only use the smaller ones in the package
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 28 oz can tomatoes (crushed or diced) with juice (Do not drain!!!)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (chardonnay or similar) - 3/4 cup if using diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth (reduced sodium is very important) - 3/4 cup if using diced tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons drained capers (more or less to taste)
• 1.5 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• salt
• pepper

Serves family of 4

Directions

1. Pour EVOO into large sauté pan and put over medium heat
2. Lightly salt and pepper your chicken, then dredge lightly in flour
3. Add chicken to pan when hot. Cook each side until lightly browned, about 4 minutes each side
4. Remove chicken and plate.
5. In same sauté pan, add onion, peppers, mushrooms, garlic. Cook until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Then season (generously) with salt and pepper
6. Add wine, simmer until reduced by half, about 4 minutes **
7. Add tomatoes, broth, capers and oregano. Let simmer for ~5 minutes.
8. Add chicken, turn to coat in sauce. Bring to a simmer.
9. Simmer over medium-low heat until chicken is completely cooked through.
10. Serve chicken covered in sauce and veggies, sprinkle cheese and fresh basil over the top for added flavor. Can serve over rice, pasta, mashed potatoes or as-is.

 

**If you are making this for family with children and worried about the wine, you can reduce the wine for longer, or just omit. The taste will suffer just a bit, but you can rest easier. Personally, I think cooking the wine for 5 extra minutes is fine!

Step 4, Remove chicken and plate

Step 5, Add onion, peppers, mushrooms and garlic and sauté

Step 7b Let sauce simmer for ~5 min before adding chicken

Step 7, Add tomatoes, broth, capers and oregano

 

Chipotle Chorizo Chili (Also vegetarian option)

This is a great chili. If you are in the mood for something a little different than your regular chili, this is a good alternative, and doesn't taste too different. The smoky flavor of the chipotle chilies and the kick from the chorizo are just the right combination to a black bean chili!

Ingredients:
1 can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
12 oz (1 package) chorizo - out of casing (you can use more or less, depending on your taste level. I just used the entire package.)
1 white onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained
1 (8 oz) can no-salt-added whole-kernal corn, drained. You could also use 1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn.
3 (14 oz) cans tomatoes, chopped (either buy whole, peeled and chop yourself, or save a step and buy chopped!) - do not drain!
juice of 1/2 lime
2 tbsp. (a little more, up to 3 tbsp. total, if you like it with a little more kick) chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1.5 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2.5 oz semi-sweet chocolate (chips or chopped bar)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

**Vegetarian option - I've heard Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo is good and it would definitely work well in place of the meat in this recipe. While the name is misleading -  the direct Spanish translation of Soy Chorizo is "I am Chorizo (pork sausage, flavored with paprika)" - my neighbors are vegetarians and they say TJ meatless chorizo is yummy. Bonus - it is definitely less fat than "real" chorizo!!!

Directions:
1. Remove three chilies from can; chop up. Use only two if you can't take any heat; use four if you like it much spicier.
2. Spray a Dutch Oven thoroughly with cooking spray. Put over medium high heat (medium if cooking over gas).
3. Add chilies, chorizo, onion, peppers and garlic. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until chorizo is starting to crumble and veggies are soft.
4. Add tomatoes, beans, corn, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, oregano and cinnamon.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes, occasionally stirring. It is done after 30 minutes, but I like to let it simmer even longer. In fact, it's really better made the night before so the flavors can really blend together.

6. Once you take it off the stove, stir in the chocolate, salt and pepper. Once the chocolate is melted, it's ready to serve!

I serve topped with chopped onions and a dollop of sour cream. If you like some kick, chop up some fresh jalapeno and serve!

 

 

 

Crockpot whole chicken

This is a great alternative to buying a rotisserie chicken for a lot of reasons - you can be sure of the chicken you're getting (I was recently told that the grocery stores will sometimes put the "about to expire" chickens into the rotisserie), you can cut down on a lot of the fat, and you can season it however you may want!

It's so easy, this is how I do it

Ingredients

1 whole chicken - make sure nothing is
1/2 onion (white or yellow)
1 lemon
2-4 cloves garlic, depending on how much you like garlic!

Spices

2 tsp salt 

2  tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

 Directions



1. Chop up onion, put on bottom of crockpot
2. Slice lemon. I sliced 3/4 thicker, and put those on the bottom of the crockpot
3. Peel garlic cloves. Place with onion and lemon.

4. Combine all spices in a bowl - or use whatever seasoning you like!



5. Clean the chicken, make sure no giblets, etc., inside.

6. Take the skin off the chicken. This really cuts down on the fat, but because of the way we are cooking it, it doesn't lose flavor or dry out!

7. Rub spices all over the chicken

8. Place the chicken in the crockpot. After this photo, I sliced the remaining lemon thinly and placed on top of chicken with a few sprigs of rosemary.

9. Put crockpot on low and walk away! You don't need to add any liquid, the chicken will cook in its own juices.

I cooked for about 6 hours. You can cook it for as long as you need. Once you take the chicken out, it will literally fall off the bone. I serve it to the family sliced up, and the rest is great for chicken salad.

Enjoy!

Baby food - blueberry, beet and banana puree (6 months+)

Since I haven't been working out of the house, I've been experimenting with making Emmy's baby food (she is 6 months old). I bought a little 3-cup food processor and have been trying lots of different things - from simple purees to mixtures. One of my favorites so far is this deep blue concoction, blueberries, beets and banana. Emmy went crazy for it!

What a great color combination that yields a delicious and nutritious meal for baby :) Obviously this is not the amount of blueberries you use!

Ingredients:
1/2-2/3 cup of fresh blueberries
2 ripe bananas
4 cooked and peeled beets

Adjust this amount as you see fit. Emmy is still a young eater, so I did lots of banana so she would for sure eat it. This amount smells like beets, but the taste isn't too strong. 
 
Directions:
1. Boil beets - can take ~30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the beets. Once you take out of water, skins should slide right off.
     - There is a shortcut; sometimes in the produce section you can find peeled and steamed "ready to eat"    beets, like "Melissa's Baby Beets" (http://www.melissas.com/Products/Products/Peeled-Baby-Red-Beets.aspx)
2. If your baby is younger than 9 months, I suggest boiling the blueberries so the puree is smoother. To do this, bring water (~1.5 cups) to a soft boil. Add blueberries and continue to cook on soft boil for ~8 minutes.
3. In your food processor or blender, add blueberries, beets and a whole banana and blend until well pureed.

And of course, you can freeze any you don't plan to feed to baby that day.